By Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai

As we explore the issue of Nigeria’s missing federalism, we turn today to Bauchi as we focus on and analyze sub-national budgets, fiscal prudence and good governance. The state is one of the older states with the good fortune of being decently governed in the past – by people like General Sani Sami as military governor and, more recently, my former classmate Ahmed Adamu Muazu. It is also one of the states that claimed to have enacted, in 2009, versions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Public Procurement Acts 2007.

These served in sending the right signals, at least in theory about fiscal balance, financial prudence and accountability. The state governor can also lay claim to some political and experiential pedigree. Governor Isa Yuguda was educated at Ahmadu Bello University, had a long and successful career as a banker, and was federal minister twice under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. Persuading the Buhari Organisation and the ANPP into supporting his gubernatorial aspiration, then defecting to the PDP after the election, should add up to something of a character sketch for governance; depending on one’s interpretation.

Bauchi State was created in 1976 by the Murtala- Obasanjo-Danjuma administration upon acceptance of the Irikefe Panel on States’ Creation. The panel recommended that the old North-eastern state be split into Borno, Bauchi and Gongola States. In 1996, the old Bauchi State was split into the current Bauchi and Gombe States. With an estimated 5.7 million citizens, it is the seventh most populous state in Nigeria. If Bauchi was a country, it would be ranked 33rd out of 54 African countries, and about the population of Togo. Within the ECOWAS sub-region, Bauchi is bigger than Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in population. The state is more naturally endowed than the four West African nations mentioned. It has ample arable land, spanning the two ecological zones of Sudan and Sahel Savannah and serviced by two major rivers – Rivers Jama’are and Gongola – thus enabling all year round irrigated agriculture. Its vast fertile soil and hardworking farmers produce maize, rice, millet, groundnut, and guinea corn. Cattle and livestock are also reared in the state.

The state has several proven reserves of solid minerals like Barites, Gypsum, Granites, Potash, Bauxite, Sapphire and Mica amongst others. There is likelihood of oil and gas deposits existing in Bauchi, Gombe and Benue Basins as well. Bauchi’s Yankari Game Reserve is the largest in West Africa and is a leading tourism asset. Other similar but less publicized tourist attractions include Premier Game Reserve, rock paintings at Goji and Shira and the Tafawa Balewa Mausoleum.

The North-east zone of Nigeria is the poorest part of the country. According to NBS Poverty Profile 2012 which studied poverty incidence nationwide using 2009 and 2010 data, 75% of the population of the region was relatively poor, 71.5% was absolutely poor, 51.5% could hardly feed itself (that is, food poor) in an agriculturally-endowed region and a whopping 68.2% live on less than a dollar per day. The states of Yobe (58%), Borno (56%), Katsina (50%) and Bauchi (49%) have the highest poverty indices in Nigeria. All except Katsina are in the North-east zone. Aggravating the absolute, relative and food poverty measures are very high levels of income inequality. Yobe and Taraba in the North-east recorded the highest increases in income inequality between 2003 and 2010 as measured by changes in Gini coefficients. Happily, Bauchi State recorded a decrease during the period due largely to the period of decent governance under former Governor Muazu.

The North-east also has the highest levels of unemployment in Nigeria, with Yobe leading the pack with 39%, Bauchi (30%), Gombe (29%), and Borno (27%) following closely. These numbers should be compared with the 8% unemployment rate of Lagos State and the national average of 21%. Bauchi was doing better in educational attainment, though things may have deteriorated since 2008. In that academic year 13,520 Bauchi students attempted WAEC and only 1,764 (about 13%) got five credits including English and Mathematics. Only about 850 Bauchi youths were admitted to universities that same year compared with over 4,000 for Enugu. In healthcare, along with Kano and Sokoto States, Bauchi has the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality in the country. It is clear that Bauchi, like most Northern states have huge challenges in virtually every governance area.

Whichever way one looks at and compares these statistics, they confirm the continued economic and social under-performance of the North-east zone of which Bauchi State is a leading component. It is therefore not surprising that while the Nigerian political Sharia movement of the early part of this century started in Zamfara State of North-west, it was the Northeast zone that gave birth to the anarchist movement generally referred to as ‘Boko Haram’. Indeed, it was in Bauchi that the first state engagement with Boko Haram occurred, but was initially carefully handled by the state government. Things deteriorated after Shehu Gabam, Yuguda’s chief of staff that managed the first crisis left the administration.

Are all these ingredients of the birth and growth of insurgency there for all to see? Or was it aggravated by poor governance, misplaced spending priorities and incompetent security management? What should the Bauchi State government be doing to secure the future of its citizens? Has state governance in the last few years delivered on social services and opened up economic opportunities for citizens? Let us look at the 2012 budget for answers to some of these questions. In 2011, the state House of Assembly approved about N118 billion as the budget to be financed with N53 billion from federation allocation (FAAC), N6.3 billion from internally-generated revenues (IGR) and a whopping N59 billion as loans from money and capital markets.

The Bauchi State government budgeted N138.7 billion for 2012, an increase of about N21 billion over the amount in 2011. Yuguda intends to finance the 2012 budget with N69 billion from FAAC, a paltry N7.3 billion as IGR and another N58 billion as loans. In what should be a violation of any sound fiscal responsibility law, nearly 40% of the budget will be financed through borrowing for two years in a row. In 2011, Bauchi State’s domestic debt was about N91 billion, so by the end of the year, Bauchi would be in debt to the tune of some N150 billion. Public debt charges this year is some N6.3 billion and rising. It looks like Yuguda is determined to leave behind a debt-ridden, if not financially insolvent state!

Let us now look at the budget proper. The entire budget document is about 30 pages long, short on details and defective in organisation. About N77.3 billion (53%) of the 2012 budget is earmarked for capital expenditure, while N61.4 billion (47%) is for recurrent spending. The recurrent budget is made up of N27.5 billion (20% of budget) for personnel cost and N33.8 billion (24%) for overheads. Yuguda’s budget is therefore better than the federal 28% allocation for capital spending, but still falls short of the minimum of 70% needed to achieve real development. Only three states met this minimum in 2012 – Akwa Ibom (84%), Rivers (74%) and Imo (73%), and the first two may perhaps be easily explicable on the basis of excess oil revenue windfalls. And how can a state that could raise only N7 billion internally budget four times that amount for staff costs?

The sectoral breakdown of the budget showed the following structure; N36.2 billion (26%) for general administration, N25.8 billion (19%) for economic sector , N23.1 billion (17%) for regional development, N41.5 billion (30%) for what I will classify as social services, and N12.2 billion (9%) as Consolidated Revenue Fund charges. The largest total departmental allocations went to Education (N19.4 billion), Security under the SSG’s office (N17.6 billion), Health (N13.7 billion), Works & Transport (N7.7 billion), Rural Development (N7.1 billion), Agriculture (N7.6 billion), Power & Solid Minerals (N5.0 billion) and Water Resources (N3.2 billion). The bulk of the allocation for security is usually spent at the discretion of the governor, without any transparency, accountability or records for necessary audit.

The Judiciary including the Sharia Court of Appeal will cost N3.2 billion to maintain, while the Legislature was earmarked a total slightly above N2 billion. The political office holders in the executive branch along with ‘severance gratuity’ will cost over N3.1 billion in 2012. Adding up the cost of political office holders in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Bauchi State government comes up to N8.3 billion – a billion naira more than the state’s entire IGR! Thus, Bauchi State exists only because it collects monthly hand-outs from FAAC.

Since the advent of this republic in 1999 to 2011, the state has collected some N347 billion from Abuja, about 2.7% of federation revenues. At least N180 billion of this total was spent under Yuguda’s first four-year watch. And what are the results? The people of Bauchi State are in the best position to answer that question. We will just draw attention to a few items of expenditure and leave the conclusions to the reader. Bauchi State has budgeted nearly N5 billion for a ministry of power and solid minerals. These are essentially
federally-regulated functions best undertaken by the private sector.

These monies will simply be frittered away. In 2012, about N19 billion will be spent to produce about 1900 students qualified to be admitted into university, while nearly N14 billion will be spent to improve maternal health and reduce infant mortality. Over N50 billion will be spent to open up economic opportunities and address the needs of vulnerable groups in Bauchi State, without a clear strategy to address value-chain issues and binding constraints in agriculture, livestock production, tourism and mining – sectors in which the state possesses relative competitive advantage. Similar amounts have been spent in previous years with nothing to show for them.

Bauchi was ranked as the 10th state in Nigeria in the overall lowest cost of doing business by the World Bank in 2010, but 21st in ease of starting a new business. Nearly three in 10 working age persons in the state are unemployed, with over 43% of all employable females jobless. Unfortunately, instead of addressing these issues with a slim government that directs its resources to building physical infrastructure and human capital, encouraging agriculture and mining, and delivering on basic social services, the government announced the appointment of 924 political appointees as ‘aides’ in September 2011.

These consisted of 20 special advisers presumably approved by the state House of Assembly, 94 senior special assistants, and 810 special assistants. He also appointed 24 directorsgeneral of agencies, 20 local government deputy chairmen and 82 councillors. This is quite apart from some 20 commissioners and heads of executive bodies. Yuguda, like many Northern governors is spending the state’s resources on a very small circle of political jobbers while the general populace gets poorer, more hopeless, thereby constituting greater threats to the society.

Is the Bauchi State government securing the future of its citizens? No. Is its budget structure and spending priorities better than that of the Federal Government? Yes, at least slightly. But Bauchi State is not fiscally independent or viable unless it improves its IGR and slashes the size of its bloated government. Unless the government does that, it does not deserve the support of its citizens.

It's a tragedy for real, that even with the extremely limited funds, thisanimal still has the heart to be this wasteful and extravagant.
The other guy in Niger says he's building a 42 square kilometre "airport city", while ground-level poverty is still at an epic scale

This is a well-written article, but I still have my doubts on El-Rufai's intelligence and sincerity.

With a budget and a government that think like this, the state will only become poorer.

interesting

Ejiné: It's a tragedy for real, that even with the extremely limited funds, thisanimal still has the heart to be this wasteful and extravagant.
The other guy in Niger says he's building a 42 square kilometre "airport city", while ground-level poverty is still at an epic scale

This is a well-written article, but I still have my doubts on El-Rufai's intelligence and sincerity.

Guy, it's a disaster! Some of these governors simply have no business being in government.

So how is Bauchi continuing to secure loans? Who is loaning them money? And why? Or does the lender have some means of deducting his payments directly from the federation account...?

Otherwise seems quite risky loaning to this state.

ekt_bear: So how is Bauchi continuing to secure loans? Who is loaning them money? And why? Or does the lender have some means of deducting his payments directly from the federation account...?

Otherwise seems quite risky loaning to this state.

Yes, that is how all states borrow funds (including Lagos and the oil producing states). The FG indirectly provides security for them.
They source money abroad which the FG borrows on their behalf; the payments are deducted from their monthly allocations.

Why is Rufai the only Northerner making noise about this, though?

Even here on Nairaland. Do you ever hear nagoma, Jarus, haka_nai, etc ever talk about the poor leadership of their own governors?

Why is the focus mostly on the failures of the FG (which are admittedly numerous) rather than the failures of the governors?

Beaf:
Yes, that is how all states borrow funds (including Lagos and the oil producing states). The FG indirectly provides security for them.
They source money abroad which the FG borrows on their behalf; the payments are deducted from their monthly allocations.

That's right! And that is why there will be more Almajiris from that zone. Their government have not only looted their past and present, they have also pocketed their future. With no viable investment for the future, only a disaster await the state.

Ironically, Bauchi is one of the most developed state in nigeria. Go figure!

24/7 water supply(even state like rivers can't boast of any pipe network), working state owned hospitals(one of the best in the country), good schools(model schools is one best in the country), the best road network nationwide(with exception of abuja). . And so on.

Since 1966, the leaders of Naija have mismanaged (stolen/looted/poorly funded/spent inappropraitely/etc) over US $300 BILLION.

Imagine if only half of that was stolen and we had the rest to develop. Even after building 20 Emirates Stadiums in the country, 20 International Airports, 20 Medical centers with satellite clinics, we would still have had US $60 BILLION to phuck those Cameroonians claiming Nigerian Territory.


Shame. We get what we deserve

Rhino.5dm:
Ironically, Bauchi is one of the most developed state in nigeria. Go figure!

24/7 water supply(even state like rivers can't boast of any pipe network), working state owned hospitals(one of the best in the country), good schools(model schools is one best in the country), the best road network nationwide(with exception of abuja). . And so on.

Where is the 24 hour water supply? Surely not to the hamlets along the road. I recall parking along the road out of curiosity to see what was really in one of those little hamlets and the whole place stank bitterly of excrement. Please tell another story about water supply.

They have good inter-state roads and thats about it.

Good schools, but terrible admission rates to college, terrible performance on JAMB/UTME etc?

Is this not the same Bauchi were 17 students in the entire state passed some exam?

I can't back this up cos I don't have the data to that, but that state is pursuing one of the best oversea scholarship scheme. To my little knowledge of sketchy records, I can tell you that morethan 7,000 students of that state are either presently studying abroad or have completed their studies. I.e Malaysia, Singerpore,China,Egypt and other low cost quality educational systems, with little extension to UK, Canada and US. Presently, that state should be boasting of nothing less than 50 NASA trained engineers and pilots which was meant to be a continual program of capacity building. Hardly if there any family without atleast a single member studying abroud. The trend is changing very fast!

Don't be decieved by whatever figures you googled or a bittered opposition like El rufai are busy churning out, besides I think Borno state was the state with that 17 figures or something(not sure). The boko haram saga and brain washing is mild over there.

ekt_bear: Good schools, but terrible admission rates to college, terrible performance on JAMB/UTME etc?

Is this not the same Bauchi were 17 students in the entire state passed some exam?

Dual post.

Look, what I expected from you is to show me any state with functionable water supply system. There is a 16" inch functionable pipe born water system throughout the state capital and other major cites in that state and 7 million gallons/day dual water treatment plant providing access to portable drinking water to homes with hundreds of solar powered mini-water supply system scattered all over the state. It may sound like a rocket science or near impossible to many of us living in southern.


Bauchi is the ONLY state with water utility billing system in nigeria(to the best of my knowledge!). I used to pay monthly bill of 250 naira to have access to portable drinking water, way back 2001, so don't give that bull.

You can only see people buying water in Rivers, Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Delta, stretching to South east and South west, infact Lagos is a typical example of notorious "Mai ruwa" hordes. Enugu is another example!

Beaf:
Where is the 24 hour water supply? Surely not to the hamlets along the road. I recall parking along the road out of curiosity to see what was really in one of those little hamlets and the whole place stank bitterly of excrement. Please tell another story about water supply.

They have good inter-state roads and thats about it.

Im really confused about all these info about Bauchi. The State do have some good water supply in some towns other than Bauchi town, such as Misau and Azare.The salaries are always promptly paid, the state never owed salary, only its coming late this days! The road network in the state is superb as somebody pointed out. Recently the state established a University and they have started work with the 100Level students and Prelim students, I pray the University will not foldup! The state always give bursaries to students. The state always sponsor her indigenes on oversea scorlaships, though with the help of ETF and co!

Excellent post.

cogitoErgo: Im really confused about all these info about Bauchi. The State do have some good water supply in some towns other than Bauchi town, such as Misau and Azare.The salaries are always promptly paid, the state never owed salary, only its coming late this days! The road network in the state is superb as somebody pointed out. Recently the state established a University and they have started work with the 100Level students and Prelim students, I pray the University will not foldup! The state always give bursaries to students. The state always sponsor her indigenes on oversea scorlaships, though with the help of ETF and co!

Whereas anambra had a budget of 66billion without a single loan yet appropriately disbursed across all relevant sectors. Now I know the real governors

The northern states are increasingly focusing on educating there students abroad wit focus on medicine, pharmacy, IT, and engineering. Take Jigawa state for example they have a program in which more than 500 students are sent abroad every year mostly to Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt. The second first and second batch of these overseas students have already completed their studies and have been integrated into the civil service.

cogitoErgo: Im really confused about all these info about Bauchi. The State do have some good water supply in some towns other than Bauchi town, such as Misau and Azare.The salaries are always promptly paid, the state never owed salary, only its coming late this days! The road network in the state is superb as somebody pointed out. Recently the state established a University and they have started work with the 100Level students and Prelim students, I pray the University will not foldup! The state always give bursaries to students. The state always sponsor her indigenes on oversea scorlaships, though with the help of ETF and co!

Rhino.5dm:
Look, what I expected from you is to show me any state with functionable water supply system. There is a 16" inch functionable pipe born water system throughout the state capital and other major cites in that state and 7 million gallons/day dual water treatment plant providing access to portable drinking water to homes with hundreds of solar powered mini-water supply system scattered all over the state. It may sound like a rocket science or near impossible to many of us living in southern.


Bauchi is the ONLY state with water utility billing system in nigeria(to the best of my knowledge!). I used to pay monthly bill of 250 naira to have access to portable drinking water, way back 2001, so don't give that bull.

You can only see people buying water in Rivers, Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Delta, stretching to South east and South west, infact Lagos is a typical example of notorious "Mai ruwa" hordes. Enugu is another example!

Are you Comedians? Right before you is a Classic case of the disaster that has resulted in the North East becoming the butt of all jokes and you're hopelessly trying to paint another picture. Water Utility billing system my jazz, how many of the indigenes can afford paying for the Water?
Failed Education system, which is no surprise when you consider the Children are groomed in the Art of Murdering Teachers and Corps members.

13volts: The northern states are increasingly focusing on educating there students abroad wit focus on medicine, pharmacy, IT, and engineering. Take Jigawa state for example they have a program in which more than 500 students are sent abroad every year mostly to Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt. The second first and second batch of these overseas students have already completed their studies and have been integrated into the civil service.

You can only fool the people in your backward states with that rubbish, not us. Those Multi Billion Naira Scholarship Schemes are just another means for the political big wigs in the state to loot the treasury and at the same time educate their children .
Right now, trending on NL is a thread about a girl who finished Secondary school with 9 A1 s and will be studying Law at Life. This was achieved by sound education in a school situated right there in her state. Your cases are hopeless believe me

Whats with this rants? Nonsense!

edoyad:



Are you Comedians? Right before you is a Classic case of the disaster that has resulted in the North East becoming the butt of all jokes and you're hopelessly trying to paint another picture. Water Utility billing system my jazz, how many of the indigenes can afford paying for the Water?
Failed Education system, which is no surprise when you consider the Children are groomed in the Art of Murdering Teachers and Corps members.

Rhino.5dm:
Whats with this rants? Nonsense!

I believe you should replace that with "these". Well funded education indeed.

I believe you should equally replace that with "funded".

Now, whats with these rants?

edoyad:

I believe you should replace that with "these". Well fuded education indeed.

These stories from Rhino5Dm and CogitoErgo are quite bizarre to me.
It's also funny this wasn't the scene of Bauchi I witnessed when I touched down there last year.
What I saw, to be frank, was a real eye-opener on the shocking poverty and visionless leadership crippling the state.

The average primary/secondary school in Bauchi runs at a teacher-to student ratio of 1 teacher to 120 students!
Classrooms are filled to the brim, with only two windows serving as ventilation. But what I discovered upon taking a closer look was far worse - These teachers have lost interest in teaching the students, and have chosen to use them; instead; as laborers in their farmlands. And the students, themselves, are more than willing to work there, as they know no better. It's sad.
Bauchi is also among the states with the lowest WAEC success rates, JAMB participation figures, and secondary school completion figures. But wait - It gets worse. . .

Yes, there are smooth road networks, but these lead to nowhere. And to think Bauchi is also plagued with so many VVF cases, you'd want to cry upon getting to the Federal MediCentre in the central town.
State-owned hospitals? Do they still exist? Cuz I sure couldn't spot any with up to 2 skilled medical professionals in it. Instead, what I found were dilapidated classroom-like sheds with leaking roofs, where you go to get drugs for your minor headaches, and you're given a plaster of paris for your right leg.

"doctor, help! I'm down with malaria. What drugs should I take?" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, help! I have measles! What drugs should I take?" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, heeeelp! My pregnant wife is in her labor!" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, I need your help! I'm down with chicken pox!" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, my wife says I'm a disappointment in bed!!" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, this accident patient had a head-on collision with an armored military tank" Paracetamol and Malareich

"Excuse me, I'm looking for directions" Paracetamol and Malareich.

^^^ LWKMD!

Ejiné: It's a tragedy for real, that even with the extremely limited funds, thisanimal still has the heart to be this wasteful and extravagant.
The other guy in Niger says he's building a 42 square kilometre "airport city", while ground-level poverty is still at an epic scale

This is a well-written article, but I still have my doubts on El-Rufai's intelligence and sincerity.

El-Rufai is no doubt intelligent, it's his sincerity I (and most people) have a problem with. His antecedents in the FCT is still very fresh in mind.

Now, lemme ask you the following, since you claim to have traverse the whole state.

1. How do I locate Jubril Aminu primary school from Sa'adu Zungur primary school? Describe.

2.How do I locate Azare specialist hospital from SK cinema? Describe

3.Where is Bayera specialist hospital located from Zango quaters? Describe

4. Which building is opposite state library?

5. How do I get to accident and emergency unit of state specialist hospital from wunti market? Describe.

Secondly, how do you reconcile the rubbish you posted with the fact that the state specialist hospital was just accredited and converted to university teaching hospital?

Ejiné: These stories from Rhino5Dm and CogitoErgo are quite bizarre to me.
It's also funny this wasn't the scene of Bauchi I witnessed when I touched down there last year.
What I saw, to be frank, was a real eye-opener on the shocking poverty and visionless leadership crippling the state.

The average primary/secondary school in Bauchi runs at a teacher-to student ratio of 1 teacher to 120 students!
Classrooms are filled to the brim, with only two windows serving as ventilation. But what I discovered upon taking a closer look was far worse - These teachers have lost interest in teaching the students, and have chosen to use them; instead; as laborers in their farmlands. And the students, themselves, are more than willing to work there, as they know no better. It's sad.
Bauchi is also among the states with the lowest WAEC success rates, JAMB participation figures, and secondary school completion figures. But wait - It gets worse. . .

Yes, there are smooth road networks, but these lead to nowhere. And to think Bauchi is also plagued with so many VVF cases, you'd want to cry upon getting to the Federal MediCentre in the central town.
State-owned hospitals? Do they still exist? Cuz I sure couldn't spot any with up to 2 skilled medical professionals in it. Instead, what I found were dilapidated classroom-like sheds with leaking roofs, where you go to get drugs for your minor headaches, and you're given a plaster of paris for your right leg.

"doctor, help! I'm down with malaria. What drugs should I take?" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, help! I have measles! What drugs should I take?" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, heeeelp! My pregnant wife is in her labor!" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, I need your help! I'm down with chicken pox!" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, my wife says I'm a disappointment in bed!!" Paracetamol and Malareich

"doctor, this accident patient had a head-on collision with an armored military tank" Paracetamol and Malareich

"Excuse me, I'm looking for directions" Paracetamol and Malareich.

careytommy:
El-Rufai is no doubt intelligent, it's his sincerity I (and most people) have a problem with. His antecedents in the FCT is still very fresh in mind.

He was probably the best FCT minister in a while, once he left, the place just degenerated.